Best Riding Unicorns Productions Podcasts (2025)

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Building the "Spotify of Textbooks" with Gauthier Van Malderen, Founder @ Perlego 44:56

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7d ago44:56

44:56

Hector is joined by Gauthier van Malderen, Founder and CEO of Perlego, the “Spotify for textbooks” and one of Europe’s leading edtech scale-ups. Gauthier shares the remarkable journey of building Perlego from a personal frustration with expensive university textbooks into a global subscription platform transforming access to educational content. He…

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Building the capital operating system for fast-growing tech companies with Paul Becker, Co-Founder & CEO of re:cap 52:19

10d ago52:19

52:19

This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Paul Becker, Co-Founder & CEO of re:cap, a fintech platform helping digital businesses unlock capital and understand their financial position through intelligent forecasting, real-time data insights, and flexible financing. In this wide-ranging conversation, Paul walks us through re:cap’s journey from a…

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What happened to Babylon Health after reaching $1bn+ revenue? And how Ali Parsa is continuing his mission to fix healthcare for all with AI startup Quadrivia. 44:24

21d ago44:24

44:24

Ali first joined us in January 2022, when Babylon was still one of the most ambitious healthtech companies in the world. Today, he returns with a new mission, building Quadrivia and its clinical AI assistant, “Qu”, designed to automate millions of repetitive healthcare workflows and rebalance the global shortage of clinical labour. In this episode,…

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The future of Social Commerce with Sam Jacobs, Co-Founder @ Go Places 43:44

23d ago43:44

43:44

Sam Jacobs is the Co-Founder of Go Places, the operating system for social commerce. In just 18 months, Go Places has become a trusted partner to some of the world’s biggest brands including Samsung, Mars, The Body Shop, and Trip. Backed by deep experience from Amazon and Coca-Cola, Sam and his co-founder Jack are building the infrastructure layer …

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AI, Infra vs Apps & Spotting Red Herrings with Akash Bajwa, Principal @ Earlybird 47:24

1M ago47:24

47:24

Akash Bajwa, Principal at Earlybird VC, one of Europe’s longest-standing early-stage funds. Akash shares his journey into venture and how he helped launch Earlybird’s London office, now a core hub for the firm. We dive into the state of AI investing, how to distinguish enduring companies from short-term hype, and what traits define the next wave of…

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Investing in Africa's Digital Future, Lexi Novitske, GP @ Norrsken22 44:00

1M ago44:00

44:00

Lexi Novitske, General Partner at Norrsken22, a $205m growth-stage fund backing transformative tech companies across Africa. Lexi has spent over a decade living and investing in Nigeria, backing breakout African startups like Paystack, Flutterwave, and Smile Identity. As one of the continent’s most respected VCs, she shares how her team is building…

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Growth Equity, VCTs and Exits with Rupert West, Managing Director @ Puma Growth Partners 43:26

1M ago43:26

43:26

Please note: The topics covered in this episode should not be taken as investment advice. This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Rupert West, the founder and Managing Director of Puma Growth Partners, a UK-based growth equity investor backing companies at Series A with cheque sizes of £4–10m. Puma invests across consumer brands, B2B SaaS, an…

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Building Outreach to a $4bn unicorn and helping AI agents get paid with Paid.ai - Manny Medina, Co-Founder & CEO @ Paid.ai 50:47

2M ago50:47

50:47

This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Manny Medina, the visionary founder behind Outreach — the $4B sales engagement unicorn — and now co-founder & CEO of Paid.ai, a startup pioneering how AI agents get priced, paid, and scaled. We dive into Manny’s remarkable journey from zero to $250M+ ARR with Outreach, the gritty early days of selling d…

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Building, Backing & Scaling in an AI-Native World with Kenneth Auchenberg, Partner @ AlleyCorp 47:35

2M ago47:35

47:35

In this episode we are joined by Kenneth Auchenberg, Partner at AlleyCorp — one of New York’s most prolific early-stage funds known for incubating companies like MongoDB, Business Insider, and Radical AI. Kenneth’s journey from coding at 16 in Copenhagen to shaping global developer ecosystems at Stripe and Microsoft gives him a unique lens into the…

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Inside the Quantum Infrastructure Revolution with Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Founder & CEO @ Nu Quantum 43:42

2M ago43:42

43:42

This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Founder and CEO of Nu Quantum, a pioneering company building the networking layer for the quantum computing era. Carmen’s journey started in academia, researching quantum photonics, before she spun out Nu Quantum from the University of Cambridge. Now backed by top deep tech i…

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Building the "Lovable of Marketing" with Patrick Haede, Co-Founder & CEO @ Superscale AI 56:40

2M ago56:40

56:40

In this episode, we're joined by Patrick Haede, the founder of Superscale AI, a breakout new startup transforming how digital products are marketed. 🚀 Inspired by Lovable’s success in democratising product-building, Patrick saw the next major frontier: distribution. In a world where anyone can now build a product, how do you market it effectively? …

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Scaling from startup to £70M+ funding in 16 months with Paul Anthony, Co-founder of Primer & Colossal 56:07

3M ago56:07

56:07

Paul Anthony is the co-founder of Primer, a rapidly growing payment orchestration platform with over 200 employees and more than £70 million in funding from top-tier investors including Seed Camp, Balderton, Accel, and Iconic. His journey began as the first employee at a FinTech startup (now called Depay), followed by a stint at PayPal's Braintree …

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Simone Maini, CEO @ Elliptic, on Leading Through Crypto Winters and Building Elliptic into a Blockchain Analytics Leader 37:14

3M ago37:14

37:14

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Simone Maini, CEO of Elliptic, the world’s leading blockchain analytics company. Simone’s career path is anything but conventional — from a history degree and Deutsche Bank to leading a $100M+ funded crypto intelligence powerhouse. 🧠 After 8 years in banking and a stint in anti-mone…

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Pattern recognition and backing Europe's next unicorns with Andrei Brasoveanu, Partner @ Accel 39:42

4M ago39:42

39:42

From international math olympiads to high-frequency trading to leading deals at Accel, Andrei Brasoveanu has carved one of the most impressive careers in European tech. After a decade on Wall Street as a quant, he joined Accel’s London office and quickly became one of their top investors—backing breakout companies like Celonis and, more recently, P…

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Building Europe’s Investment Rails with Martin Kassing, Founder & CEO @ Upvest 40:21

4M ago40:21

40:21

This week on Riding Unicorns, we're joined by Martin Kassing, founder and CEO of Upvest, one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintech infrastructure companies. Martin’s journey spans private equity, Rocket Internet, multiple startups, and now leading a company that powers investment products for the likes of Revolut and N26. In this wide-ranging convers…

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RU Summit 2025 with Yoann Pavy and Oana Jinga, in Partnership with Cooley LLP 33:52

5M ago33:52

33:52

In this special Riding Unicorns episode, recorded live during London Tech Week and hosted at Cooley’s London HQ, we bring you two candid conversations from the frontline of startup building. 🚀 First up: Yoann Pavy, a growth marketing veteran (ex-Deliveroo, Depop, Perkbox), shares why distribution-first thinking is flipping product development on it…

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From Founder Failure to Building a €100M+ European VC Fund with Apostolos Apostolakis, Managing Partner @ VentureFriends 35:30

5M ago35:30

35:30

In this episode, we’re joined by Apostolos Apostolakis, the founder-turned-VC behind VentureFriends, a pan-European pre-seed and seed fund known for backing consumer and fintech breakouts like Plum, Blueground, Huspy, Carmoola and Instashop. Apostolos shares a remarkable story of resilience — from scaling a startup to €100M+ in revenue and 500 empl…

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Investing as a multi-stage fund into Europe's top startups with Deepka Rana, Principal @ Northzone 35:09

5M ago35:09

35:09

In this episode, we’re joined by Deepka Rana, Principal at leading venture fund Northzone, early backers of Klarna, Truelayer, Spotify, iZettle, Kahoot, and Personio. Deepka shares her journey from physics at Imperial and investment banking to investing in some of Europe’s most exciting startups. We unpack: 💸 What it’s like to operate a billion-dol…

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Building voice-AI infrastructure and scaling go-to-market globally with Carles Reina, GTM @ ElevenLabs & Angel Investor 48:29

5M ago48:29

48:29

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Carles Reina, Go-to-Market Lead at ElevenLabs, an AI Audio research and deployment company that tripled it's valuation to $3.3BN in January, after confirming a new $180M funding round. From starting out as a banker in Barcelona to scaling Uber’s first European team, and now investing in over 70 st…

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Building the universal integration layer for modern products and raising a Series A from GV with Romain Sestier & Guillaume Lebedel, Co-Founders @ StackOne 47:52

6M ago47:52

47:52

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, we're joined by Romain Sestier and Guillaume Lebedel, the co-founders of StackOne, a rapidly growing startup that’s building the universal integration layer for modern SaaS and AI products. Hot off the back of their $20M Series A led by GV, the duo joins us to share their journey, insights, and lessons from the t…

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Capsule Scale-Up 50 Panel with Poly AI, Flo Health, Carmoola, & Xampla 46:55

6M ago46:55

46:55

Recorded live at the Capsule Scale-Up 50 event in London on 30th April 2025, this episode features a standout panel discussion moderated by our co-host James Pringle. The Scale-Up 50 is Capsule’s flagship celebration of the UK’s fastest-growing, most exciting scale-ups, recognising the founders, leaders, and investors driving the next generation of…

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Building the Future of Marketing with Raffi Salama, CEO & Co-Founder @ Passionfruit 51:50

6M ago51:50

51:50

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James Pringle is joined by Raffi Salama, Co-Founder & CEO of Passionfruit, a fast-growing marketing OS used by the world’s most ambitious brands to orchestrate campaigns across resourcing, planning, execution, and tracking. Raffi shares his journey from launching David Beckham’s Inter Miami football club to scali…

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Building the premium venture studio and fund for consumer brands with Mike Jones, Founding Partner @ Science 51:27

6M ago51:27

51:27

Subscribe to the Reading Unicorns newsletter here. Follow Riding Unicorns on LinkedIn here. Subscribe to the Riding Unicorns YouTube channel here. In this episode we're joined by Mike Jones, Managing Partner at Science Inc., a trailblazing venture studio behind breakout brands like Dollar Shave Club, Liquid Death, and DogVacay (merged with Rover). …

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Investing in the future of KidsTech, Gaming and Media with Dylan Collins, Founder @ SuperAwesome (acq. Epic Games) 43:56

7M ago43:56

43:56

Subscribe to the Reading Unicorns newsletter here. Follow Riding Unicorns on LinkedIn here. Subscribe to the Riding Unicorns YouTube channel here. In this episode of Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by legendary repeat founder Dylan Collins, known for building and exiting three companies—including SuperAwesome, acquired by Epic Games. Dylan takes us o…

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Investing in the B2B Fintech sector with Mark Beeston, Founder @ Illuminate Financial 41:18

7M ago41:18

41:18

Subscribe to the Reading Unicorns newsletter here. Follow Riding Unicorns on LinkedIn here. Subscribe to the Riding Unicorns YouTube channel here. In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James Pringle and Hector Mason are joined by Mark Beeston, Founder and Managing Partner at Illuminate Financial—a thesis-driven venture capital firm investing in B2B F…

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The firm with a 1-in-6 unicorn investment rate. Staffan Helgesson, General Partner @ Creandum 47:57

7M ago47:57

47:57

Subscribe to the Reading Unicorns newsletter here. Follow Riding Unicorns on LinkedIn here. Subscribe to the Riding Unicorns YouTube channel here. This episode sees James Pringle and Hector Mason sit down with Staffan Helgesson, General Partner of Creandum. Creandum is one of Europe's top early stage investors focused on Seed and Series A across a …

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Doing data driven VC differently with Joseph Pizzolato, Managing Partner @ Defiant VC 42:25

8M ago42:25

42:25

Subscribe to our newsletter here. Follow us on LinkedIn here. Subscribe to our YouTube channel here. Joseph Pizzolato is the Founder & General Partner at Defiant VC, a newly launched venture fund bringing a tech-first approach to investing. Joseph shares his journey from engineering to venture capital, his experiences at Vitruvian Partners and Feli…

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S2E27 The 12 Most Shocking Surprises on Our Way to $1M ARR 46:53

8M ago46:53

46:53

It took eWebinar 16 months to go from idea to product launch, then another 36 months to hit $1M ARR; this is the core theme of this season. That's a total of 52 months from incorporation date. You might have read about companies that get to $1M in a year, much less now with AI startups and the world riding that wave. Those are outliers and not the …

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The future of car finance with Aidan Rushby, Co-founder & CEO @ Carmoola 48:37

8M ago48:37

48:37

Subscribe to our newsletter here. Follow us on LinkedIn here. Subscribe to our YouTube channel here. In this episode of Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Aidan Rushby, Founder & CEO of Carmoola, a fintech company reinventing the way people buy used cars through a seamless, mobile-first car finance experience. Aidan shares his journey from running a …

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What is Corporate Venture Capital and how to do it well with Mike Smeed, Managing Director @ InMotion Ventures 54:37

8M ago54:37

54:37

Subscribe to our newsletter here. Follow us on LinkedIn here. Subscribe to our YouTube channel here. Mike Smeed, Managing Director at InMotion Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover’s corporate venture capital arm. Mike shares his journey from a career in finance to leading one of the most active CVCs in the UK. He provides unique insights into the role of co…

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S2E26 9 Most Important PLG Lessons Learned 45:02

8M ago45:02

45:02

When Melissa cofounded eWebinar, she had no idea it was going to be “product-led”. Before becoming an entrepreneur, she had always been in B2B sales and biz dev roles. She was always a sales-led founder as both her previous startups were enterprise SaaS. The word “product-led growth” didn’t even exist in her vocabulary! When she ran out of leads to…

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Scooter regulation, supporting Lando to be a F1 driver, going all-in and reinventing Pensions with Adam Norris, Founder & CEO @ Pure Electric 49:44

8M ago49:44

49:44

Subscribe to our newsletter here. Follow us on LinkedIn here. Subscribe to our YouTube channel here. This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Adam Norris, Founder & CEO of Pure Electric, one of the leading premium electric scooter brands. Adam is also well known for playing a key role in managing the career of his son, Lando Norris, McLaren F1…

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S2E25 What Lifestyle Business Means 44:37

9M ago44:37

44:37

“This is fine as a lifestyle business.” Says every VC with a slight look of disdain after you pitch them your brilliant idea they don’t want to invest in. The industry has given “lifestyle business” such a bad reputation by commonly using it to describe non-venture scalable businesses with less ambitious founders. Only 1% of startups are venture fu…

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The next wave of Open Banking and what it means for customers with Stefano Vaccino, Founder and CEO @ Yapily 38:05

9M ago38:05

38:05

Stefano Vaccino is the Founder and CEO of Yapily, a leading open banking infrastructure provider. Stefano shares his unique journey from a career in nanotransistor research and investment banking to discovering his passion for technology and founding Yapily. We explore how open banking regulations like PSD2 inspired him to create a mission-driven c…

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Markeplaces, hard truths and angel investing with Mandeep Singh, ex-Founder @ Trouva (acq by Made.com). 47:00

9M ago47:00

47:00

Mandeep Singh is an angel investor and co-founder and former CEO of Trouva, a marketplace for independent boutiques that was acquired by Made.com. Mandeep takes us through his journey from founding Trouva, navigating its growth, and the eventual exit, to his current role as an active angel investor with a portfolio of over 80 companies. In this epi…

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S2E24 5 Pricing Decisions that Turned Out to be Costly Mistakes 46:02

9M ago46:02

46:02

Should you “do right by your customers” at the expense of the company, your team, and your own wellbeing? Your answer might be “yes”, until you realize a small change that customers would barely feel could mean instant profitability for your bootstrapped startup. Having said that, hindsight is always 20/20. There are some mistakes that you just hav…

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The operational side of building a credit card rocketship with Tim Chong, Co-Founder & CEO @ Yonder 47:52

9M ago47:52

47:52

Tim Chong is the Co-Founder and CEO of Yonder, a modern lifestyle rewards credit card designed for young city adventurers. Tim shares his journey from growing up in Australia and a career in consulting to working at ClearScore and ultimately founding Yonder. We delve into the evolution of the Yonder product and brand, from solving credit challenges…

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Going Public, democratising Pensions and scaling to the USA with Romi Savova, Founder & CEO @ PensionBee 38:27

10M ago38:27

38:27

This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Romina Savova, Founder & CEO of PensionBee, the platform transforming how people manage their pensions. With over 260,000 customers and £5.5 billion in assets under management, PensionBee has become a household name in the UK. Romina shares the journey of building a public company that empowers consumer…

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S2E23 Why We Stayed Away from Enterprise 57:25

10M ago57:25

57:25

Most companies think the answer to more revenue is to sell enterprise, but they aren't aware of the massive hassle and costs that come with going upmarket. There's no such thing as free money. The bigger the deal, the more attention you need to give your customer. The more customizations you offer, the more versions of your product you have to main…

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Implementing change for startups and talent at a the government level with Dom Hallas, Executive Director @ Startup Coalition 53:39

10M ago53:39

53:39

This week on Riding Unicorns, we're joined by Dom Hallas, Executive Director at the Startup Coalition, the policy voice for UK tech startups and scaleups. Dom brings a wealth of insight into the intersection of tech, venture, and public policy, offering a fascinating look into the state of the UK ecosystem during a time of governmental and economic…

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S2E22 5 Wrong Hires that Ended Up Costing $450k 58:12

10M ago58:12

58:12

Hiring is one of the biggest challenges every company faces. For bootstrapped startups, this challenge is even bigger as we have to compete against funded companies and tech giants. Part of building a startup is trial and error, throwing things against the wall to see what sticks. Hiring is no different - it’s a learning process that can sometimes …

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The USA's most active investor with Ron Levin, Managing Partner @ Alumni Ventures 43:09

10M ago43:09

43:09

Ron Levin is the Managing Partner at Alumni Ventures, the most active venture capital firm in the US. Hector spoke to Ron to discuss his journey from entrepreneur to investor and his insights on scaling ventures and building impactful companies. Ron shares his fascinating career story, from organising trading card shows as a teenager to founding th…

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The talent flywheel, product management and more with Martin Sokk, Co-Founder & CEO @ Lightyear 45:08

11M ago45:08

45:08

Martin Sokk is the Co-Founder and CEO of Lightyear. He joined Hector to discuss his journey from product management at Wise (formerly TransferWise) to building a company revolutionising retail investing in Europe. Martin shares how his product-driven mindset and relentless curiosity have shaped his career, offering insights into creating 10x produc…

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S2E21 When Our Startup Became a Real Business 43:12

11M ago43:12

43:12

eWebinar was built in a silo for 18 months before the first person signed up for a trial. Melissa and her team had no idea if this business would become “real”, and if people were going to pay for the service. On this episode, Melissa and Todd recount stories of when they knew they were onto something, through customer interactions and feedback, ou…

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Matt Chandler, Principal @ Octopus Ventures 53:57

11M ago53:57

53:57

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James is joined by Matt Chandler, Principal at Octopus Ventures, one of Europe’s leading early-stage venture capital firms. Known for his focus on consumer tech, Matt shares his journey from aspiring oil painter to venture capitalist, weaving creativity into every step of his career. Matt discusses the unique dyn…

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Sasha Kaletsky, Managing Partner @ Creator Ventures 46:11

12M ago46:11

46:11

Sasha Kaletsky, Managing Partner at Creator Ventures, joins James Pringle on Riding Unicorns to discuss his journey into venture capital, the evolution of Creator Ventures, and the unique insights creators bring to consumer internet investing. In this episode, Sasha dives into: The transition from an investment club to a $20M fund Backing transform…

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S2E20 Social Selling and Personal Branding 44:50

12M ago44:50

44:50

If you’ve been following Melissa on LinkedIn, you’ll know that she’s a frequent contributor on the platform, sharing lessons and stories from her journey bootstrapping three startups. What you might not know is the backstory of WHY she turned to social selling after running out of leads to sell to. On this episode, Melissa shares her “hacks” of bui…

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Marketing Icon: Rory Sutherland (audio only) 53:01

12M ago53:01

53:01

Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, joins James Pringle and Hector Mason on Riding Unicorns to delve into the fascinating intersection of behavioural science, marketing, and business strategy. With a career dedicated to understanding human decision-making, Rory shares his unique perspective on how psychological insights can unlock growth a…

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Vidu Shanmugarajah, Partner @ GV 48:52

12M ago48:52

48:52

Vidu Shanmugarajah is a Partner at GV (formerly Google Ventures), where he invests in transformative tech companies across Europe. In this episode of Riding Unicorns, Vidu joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to share his journey from corporate law to venture capital, highlighting how his unique background has shaped his approach to investing. Vidu…

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S2E19 12 $0 Marketing Strategies 1:08:52

1y ago1:08:52

1:08:52

Spending money on marketing is often not an option for bootstrapped startups, at least not enough to make a meaningful impact. Without an abundance of resources, there’s no choice but to get creative. While found-led sales can get you off the ground, your network can exhaust pretty quickly, leaving you with the challenge of figuring out new ways to…